


Moonlight

by Siyah_Kedi



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/F, Originally written in 2011, old
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-01
Updated: 2018-05-01
Packaged: 2019-04-30 18:38:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14503089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Siyah_Kedi/pseuds/Siyah_Kedi
Summary: First draft of an old story.





	1. First Moon

The baying of the pack behind her echoed through the forest, sending birds into startled flight and scattering the various woodland life to the four corners.  A squirrel coughed at her warningly from a tree branch far above, but she ignored it. 

 _Ace,_ the haunting howls seemed to say.  _Ace, return to us.  We won’t hurt you._

Ace snorted to herself, scrambling over a fallen tree.  They were still closing on her; she was tired and hungry, but the pack was coming fresh off a kill and their energies were running high. 

Finally the edge of the forest loomed close, and she broke free of the sheltering cover of trees in a shower of dried leaves and broken twigs.  Shaking herself, Ace sniffed at the air.  The pack was downwind of her, and the only thing she could smell was the scents of urban living – crowds of people, greasy fast food, noxious fumes from passing cars.  She thought she could lose them once she got into the city proper, and aimed for the highway that ran the length of the forest.

A yipping bark told her that the pack was too close for comfort, and she banked a hard left into the cul-de-sac, abruptly rethinking her strategy.  The full moon above her shone with a disapproving light, and Ace knew she would pay for abandoning her pack sooner or later.  Probably sooner, if they managed to catch up to her.

Hiding in the shadows of a building, she sloughed off her fur, and rose from all fours to become a human woman.  She quickly blessed whatever deity happened to be listening, and continued her flight on two feet through the streets. 

Though the pack was infinitely faster than she when in this form, she knew that the mingling scents of human habitation would camouflage her scent somewhat, and that the pack would be wary of chasing her into a heavily populated area.  Where there were people, there were guns, but more importantly, where there were people, there were witnesses.

And above all, despite any circumstances, the secret of the pack was one that would be maintained until death. 

Ace slowed to a jog as she reached the main road, evening her pace out and relaxing her expression until she could be mistaken as just another late night fitness freak out for a run before bed.  The mournful howls of the pack fell behind her, expressing regret that they’d lost her, and a dire threat that they would find her again.  And the next time they did, those howls told her, she would not be as lucky as she’d been this time. 

Still, Ace refused to relax.  Tossing her lengthy dark hair over her shoulder and out of her eyes, she maintained her speed, looking around with expert glances. _Deeper,_ she decided.  Deeper into the city, further from the woods where the pack would roam tonight.  She had no money on her, but she also knew of several shelters that would take her for a night until she could get back to her own apartment. 

It was a dingy, cramped place, but it had been hers for several years now, since the pack had come to New York, Ace with them.  She’d met up with and joined the pack in 1946, twenty three years after she’d been bitten into their curse as a child.  Syaoran, the pack leader – alpha male, Ace’s mind supplied – had taken her in and taught her the ways of the pack. 

Humans are not prey.  Do not allow yourself to be exposed.  Death is preferable to the Secret being revealed.  It all tied into itself.  Killing and eating humans would attract attention.  Attention would lead to the pack’s downfall.  In order to protect the pack, and therefore themselves, they would die before allowing the Furless to expose the secret.

It was actually funny, Ace thought as she jogged.  That humans had kept the werewolf legend alive for so long in movies and literature without ever pausing to think about what had begun the legends in the first place.

Most legends, after all, had some kernel of truth once the layers of time and imagination were peeled away. 

They simply went about their brief little lives, never knowing of the shape-shifting creatures that dwelt alongside them, living ordinary lives six days out of seven, and every so often donning fur and running wild through the forests. 

But now Syaoran had broken his own cardinal rule. 

He’d murdered a human woman in cold blood, and left her body for the authorities to find. 

At least, Ace was fairly certain that it was Ran’s doing.  She’d been away that night, hunting on her own.  As a human woman, she was free to choose, but in her lycan form, she was subject to the whims of Nature.  The disgusting human word for it was ‘in heat’ and she’d made herself scarce during the hunt to avoid any awkward confrontations.

She’d been miles away in the next county the whole night through.  Ran met up with her the next day wearing a maniacal smile on his face, and the scent of fresh blood clung to him like a perfume.  It was so strong that Ace could pick it up even in her human form. 

Then the hunt had started. 

The pack circled round her, accusing with their eyes.  “Ace, what have you done?”

She was confused at first, and then frightened, and then finally – angry.  They were blaming her for the death of the human woman.  While it was possible for a wolf to go into berserker rages, in which they remembered nothing, Ace was positive that this had not happened.  She would have felt the rage, known that there were blank spots in her memory, and she clearly remembered everything from that night.  Ace had been hundreds of miles from the woman when she died.

But the Pack was determined to drive her away for her crime.  Drive her far away, and then execute her, because a wolf who had tasted human blood once began to develop a craving for it, it was said.  They would kill more and more, and with each death the human population would grow ever closer to the truth, finally culminating in a repeat of the Extermination – the humans hunting down and annihilating the werewolves. 

And that was how she found herself now, on the run from her only family – her human family long since dead – with nowhere else to go. 

She reached the shelter, and bedded down for the night.

 

The next morning, Ace was back at her apartment.  Luckily the pack hadn’t found it yet – there were no traces of the packs’ scent inside, and she hoped that having lived there so long would cover the tracks of her fresh scent overlaying the old.  It wouldn’t be long before the pack found her again, and she needed to do as much as she could as quickly as possible to avoid being trapped by them.  She tore through her apartment, throwing clothes and money into a backpack, before heading for the door. 

She turned in the doorway, and took a last look at the apartment that had been hers for the last twenty or so years.  It was never much, but it was home.  It was a place she was secure, and it was proof that she wasn’t simply a wild animal.  It was bittersweet to leave it behind, and her heart clenched in her chest as she stepped through the door, locking it behind her. 

The pack had turned on her.  Her old life was over.

Wandering aimlessly for a while, she thought about where she would go next.  Ran had been discussing moving the pack to the west coast - they periodically moved around, both to recruit new members, and to avoid suspicions.  So the Midwest and California were barred to her.  She’d come down from Canada before moving to New York, and didn’t want to go back.

Leaving the country, however, held appeal.  She took a deep breath as the significance of her own thoughts caught up with her.

It was time to go home.  She decided on England.

 

On her way to the airport, she was startled to see a ragged and worn picture of herself on the news.  She slowed to a halt beside the television, and glanced around.  No one else was paying attention to it.  The newscaster was saying cheerfully, “The police wish to question this woman – Acelynn Madden – in regards to the violently brutal murder of Annabel Smithson, a local woman discovered by hikers early this morning.  They’ve issued a BOLO for Madden, and have set up a hotline for any information regarding Madden or the murders.”

Ace swore quietly to herself.  This would make it infinitely more difficult to get to England.  _Damn Ran to Hell!_


	2. Second Moon

Ace swerved away from the television, and swung herself north.  She might be able to catch a ride into Canada if she was lucky; it beat running the whole way there.  From Canada, she could safely depart from America.  Plan settled, she broke into an easy, loping jog and continued on her way.  A few miles out of town, she found a ride to the border, and enjoyed the two hour ride listening to funny stories.  For a while at least, the future was out of her mind. 

She crossed the border to Canada in fur, completely unnoticed by the human patrolmen.  Unlike the legends, werewolves were not bound by the moon’s phases – they could change back and forth willingly, day or night, full moon or new.  They simply preferred the full moon, as the moon was a representation of the werewolf community’s religion.  Ace thought it got started as a tip of the hat to human legends, the worship of the moon, but more and more recently, she had felt as though the moon itself were a living thing, watching over her and taking pride in her actions.

Pride, she thought, or disappointment.  The moon would know as well as Ace herself that she’d had nothing to do with that Smithson woman, but now her former pack _and_ the human authorities were after her for it. 

 _Acelynn my girl,_ she thought bitterly, racing through the bare forests of Canada, _you must have the worst luck of anyone else in the world._

 

The trip through the airport in Canada was as simple and easy as could be, and less than an hour after entering the country, she was on a plane over the Atlantic ocean. 

Ace had never liked flying much; she was a creature of the earth, and preferred her feet – both of them, or all four of them, depending on how you counted – safely on terra firma.  She spent the entire flight focused strongly on the back of the seat in front of her, and tried to not to think about how high up they were.  Instead she concentrated on the fact that the pack would never find her now.

She took a deep breath, and exhaled on a sob.  Syaoran and the pack had been her family and closest friends for nearly seventy years.  Werewolves were not, after all, immortal in the way vampires were said to be; they aged and died like mortals, but over the span of centuries rather than decades.  She pictured the life ahead of her – hundreds of years, losing any mortal friends she happened to find, no pack for support or help – and cried.

 

By the time the plane touched down at Heathrow, Ace had recovered her composure.  She slid her private thoughts and misgivings behind a wall of ire, and walked off the plane looking ready to kill. 

 _First things first.  Gotta find someplace to stay._  

She had money enough to last her another thirty or fourty years, most of it tucked away in a Swiss bank, but accessible by wire if she needed it.  She had several thousand in American cash on her, tucked under her clothes in the backpack she carried, and it didn’t even occur to her to worry about walking around with that much money.  One, she looked like someone who needed to beg a dollar off more respectable people for food – she hadn’t showered or brushed her hair in days, and she was sure there were twigs or leaves in it somewhere – and two, if anyone troubled her, she was capable of breaking a man’s arm with one blow. 

There were advantages to the wolfen lifestyle, she mused.  A much extended life expectancy for one.  Super-human strength and speed.  Heightened senses.  She’d been born in Dublin, Ireland in 1915, and had seen things that no one had ever imagined back then in her ninety three years.  The fact that she still appeared to be in her mid-twenties, despite what normal humans would refer to as ‘an advanced age’ was just an added benefit. 

Thinking these things kept her mind off the fact that she was utterly alone for the first time since Syaoran had taken her in. 

“Oh, excuse me,” a lilting voice said from behind her.  Ace turned, and found herself nearly nose to nose with a smiling redheaded woman.  “Just in off the plane, are you?  Where are you from then?”

Something about the way the woman thought nearly bumping into her was an excuse for conversation rubbed Ace’s fur the wrong way.  “America,” she said shortly.  “Goodbye.”

As she walked away, she heard from behind her, “Well there’s no need to be rude about it, just made a polite inquiry…”

The woman’s voice trailed off in the crowd.  Ace could have listened to her further if she’d chosen, but she was hungry, abandoned, and needed to find some place to stay. 

She found herself on a damp, busy London road just outside the airport, looking around hopelessly.

Someone else stopped beside her.  “You look lost.”

Ace turned to snarl something unpleasant, and stopped short.  A beautiful young woman about Ace’s own physical age stood there.  There were dark streaks in her blonde hair, and she wore dozens of tiny bracelets on each wrist. 

“Yeah,” she said, suddenly feeling better.  There was something comfortingly familiar about the woman’s scent, but Ace couldn’t quite put her finger on it.   “I just got here, and I haven’t got anywhere to go.”

“No friends or family you could stay with?”

“I was – disowned,” Ace lied quickly.  She generally disliked lying, but Ran’s rules about the Pack had been so deeply ingrained in her that she would have chewed her own foot off before revealing the presence of werewolves in modern society.

The woman clucked sympathetically.  “You can stay with me for a while if you like.  I don’t bite. My name’s Cat.  It’s short for Catriona Cynesige.” She held her hand out, and Ace took it bemusedly.

“Ace,” she offered.  “Short for Acelynn Madden.”

“That’s a pretty name,” Cat said with a grin.  “Much better than Catriona.  People call me all sorts of things, from Kitty to Katrina.”

Ace found herself grinning back.  “I wouldn’t want to be called Kitty, either,” she admitted.  It would have been like naming a cat Dog or a parrot Turtle.  Bitch, however, she had no problems with, no matter the context it was used in. 

“So,” Cat said after a few seconds of silence.  “You’re from America.  I’ve always wanted to go there,” she continued.  “I was actually on my way to look at ticket prices when I found you.”

This was beyond Ace’s scope of comprehension.  The last time she’d dealt with humans on a personal level, she’d been eight years old.  “Why’d you stop, then?”

Cat smiled warmly.   “You looked like you needed some help.  Golden rule, you know, do unto others as you would have others do unto you.  If I got to America with no friends and nowhere to go, I’d want some friendly person to take me in for a few weeks while I got my bearings.”

This made sense, so Ace simply nodded her head and let it pass without comment.  Cat lead the way into the parking lot, weaving expertly in and out of the cars.  Ace breathed deeply, taking in the new scents and sounds that were carried in on the wind.  She didn’t even mind the rain, though Cat was hunched down with her arm over her head, trying to avoid getting too wet. 

 _England is beautiful,_ Ace decided.  _I think I can stay here for a few more decades._  

Cat swore suddenly from ahead of her.  Ace stopped short, and looked up.  There was a man coming through the car-park, staring at them and walking with a determined stride.  Ace didn’t like the smell coming off him; if she’d had canine ears at that moment, they’d have been flat against her head.  Instead, she settled for a remarkably inhuman growl.

“This could be bad,” Cat said worriedly.


	3. Third Moon

“Who is he?”

Cat shot her a nervous look.  “Someone we don’t want to have to deal with at the moment,” she said evasively.  “I don’t think you want to get dragged into my personal scuffles, so if we just hurry a bit, we’ll make the car before he does.”  She broke into a run.  Ace, bewildered, followed after her, pacing herself so as to not overshoot the car entirely.  

 _What’s that saying?_ She wondered as she ran.  _Oh yeah.  Out of the frying pan and into the fire._   Suddenly, Ace was wondering if staying with Cat was such a great idea after all.  The blonde woman threw herself behind the wheel, unlocking the other door as she did so.  Ace climbed in, and almost before she’d shut the door, Cat had turned the key and backed out abruptly.  The man with the strange smell had to throw himself to the side to avoid being run over.

“I’m sorry,” Cat said, so miserably that Ace almost felt sorry for her.  “I used to run with… well, a sort of gang,” she went on.  “I quit.  They weren’t – ah – appreciative.  They’re afraid that I’ll spill their secrets, or something.  Who would I tell, that’s what I wonder.  No one would believe me even if I did.”

It was frighteningly close to Acelynn’s situation.  “I know what you mean,” she said feelingly, and ignored Cat’s questioning look.

“Well, aren’t we a pair!” Cat said after a moment, light-heartedly.  Ace couldn’t tell whether or not she was forcing it, or if the incident had really been pushed away so quickly. If she didn’t smell so unrelentingly human, Ace would have thought her new companion was a similarly de-packed wolf.  She found herself at a loss as to how to deal with the human woman. 

“London’s quite nice,” she said conversationally. 

Cat beamed at her.

“Bloody rain.  Months of it,” she said cheerfully.  “And when it’s not raining, it’s foggy.  Most people either hate it or completely adore it.”  She was clearly one of the latter, as the rain didn’t seem to bother her in the least.  Ace could hear each droplet as it struck the various parts of the car, and amused herself listening to them for a while, wondering what she should say. 

It was a disconcerting feeling, being so out of sorts.  With the pack, she’d always known where she stood.  She’d fought her battles, and worked her way up to second female – just below the alpha female in status.  The only ones she had to defer to were Ran, as alpha male, Faolán, the second male, and Alarica, the alpha female.  Alarica and Ace had always been rivals, of sorts.  Ace couldn’t actually care less what Alarica thought of her, but the alpha had always considered her to be a threat.  It was somewhat flattering, now that she was away from it all.  She’d never had any designs on Ran – wasn’t interested in any of the pack-members, were she totally honest with herself – and she was perfectly content with her status as second-ranked female.  But Alarica was a jealous, possessive girl herself, and projected those qualities onto everyone else in the Pack. 

“Penny for your thoughts?”

Ace jumped slightly, drawn back out of her thoughts.  “Nothing interesting,” she said.  “Just remembering how things were – before.”

Cat grinned at her.  “They’ll be much better now,” she said reassuringly. 

“What will?”  Ace felt like they were having two different conversations.

“Things.  You said they were bad before.  They’ll be better now.”

“Oh.”  She thought about this for a moment, and then grinned.  “Sure.”

“Howl tells me all the time that I speak in riddles.  I always thought he was making it up, you know, teasing me.  Apparently he’s right.  You’ll just have to forgive me.”

“You’re doing it again,” Ace said helplessly.  “Who or what is Howl?”

Cat laughed at herself.  “I’m sorry,” she said unrepentantly.  “Howl’s my friend.  He’s usually around; he has his own apartment, but he never keeps any food in it, so he’s always at my house, eating.  I’m sure he’ll like you as much as I do.”

Ace found herself flattered in spite of herself.  She’d generally considered furless humans to be a waste of time and space, and included in her nightly prayers to the Moon gratuitous thanks that she had been bitten.  But Cat wasn’t like that at all – and she liked Ace. 

This was a startling revelation, for as she thought about it, Ace realised very few people had ever really liked her.  In the Pack she was respected as second female, and she got along alright with all of them but Alarica.  She’d never connected with humans long enough to form lasting relationships.  She just had nothing in common with anyone.

Until now, she thought.  She and Cat were both trying to avoid their former Packs.  Cat’s, of course, probably wasn’t a pack, unless she’d somehow masked her scent – something Ran had been attempting to do for decades, and failed utterly each time.  Ace longed to be able to share her secrets with Cat.  She knew that that was the absolute worst possible thing to do, however; she could already see Cat’s pleasant smile turning to horror as her new friend turned into a shaggy wolf right in front of her.  She’d run screaming for the hills, and what’s worse, she’d tell people.

Humans were notoriously unable to keep secrets.  The minute they knew something, they blabbed it to everyone who would listen.  And Cat would be taken for a crazy person, but some people would listen.  And then Ace, her pack, and indeed, all werewolves all over the world would find themselves hunted down like animals, either for sport, or in a holy cause to ‘protect’ people from their menace. 

Ace still had nightmares about the night her brother caught up to her.  It wasn’t something she ever wanted to go through ever again.

So she kept her silence, and listened to Cat tell her about Life With Howl, which was, when she thought about it, quite amusing.

 

The mysterious Howl was not, they discovered, in Cat’s apartment when they arrived.  Ace was privately tickled that Cat referred to her spacious two-bedroom home as a ‘flat’ and Howl her ‘part-time flat-mate.’ 

“I’ll give you the grand tour,” Cat said.  “You can drop your bag anywhere.  Is that all you’ve got?”

Ace looked at it, and shrugged.  “I was in a bit of a hurry,” she explained.  Cat nodded sagely.

“That’s alright; I’ll show you about town later today or tomorrow.  This is the kitchen,” she continued, leading Ace into the small room.  She opened all the cabinets and drawers to show Ace where everything was, then led her into the bedrooms and bathroom.  “It’s not much, but it’s home, and you can stay as long as you like.”

“This is awfully kind of you,” Ace said, feeling compelled to thank the other woman.

“It’s nothing,” Cat said.  “I actually got my start in London this way, myself.  Came up from Swindon in Wiltshire with nothing to my name and not knowing a soul, and Howl’s parents took me in and let me stay with them until I’d got my feet under me.  What goes around, comes around, they say, and I like to make certain I spread good things around.  With you just in from the States, not knowing anyone, with no place to go, well, it’s the least I can do.  Although I warn you I know martial arts.”  She dropped into a defensive stance to prove her point, and Ace laughed.

“Like you said, what goes around –” She didn’t get a chance to finish because just then the front door flew open and a wide-eyed young man with a gem pierced to his nose burst through.

“Cat!” he shouted.  “You utter prat, why didn’t you say you were leaving today?  I didn’t even get a chance to say good- hello, who’s this?”  For he’d seen Ace, and stopped short.

Acelynn felt a bit wild-eyed herself.  He oozed energy into every corner of the room, and made her feel a little breathless just standing there.  She suddenly felt like every one of her ninety odd years were catching up with her.  _This must be how elderly people feel when faced with children,_ she decided, and then got a grip on herself and extended her hand.  “I’m Acelynn Madden,” she said warmly.  “I’m a new friend of Cat’s.”

He recovered quickly, and flashed her a boyish grin.  “I’m Howl.  Like the book.”

This was new.  “Like the book?” Ace repeated, feeling somewhat helpless and not liking it much.

“Yeah.  _Howl’s Moving Castle._   It was written by Diana Wynne Jones.  Most excellent book, you really should read it.  I think Cat’s still got my copy around here somewhere.”

“You can’t possibly have been named after a book,” Ace said, acclimatising slowly.  Howl deflated.

“No, I wasn’t,” he admitted.  “It’s actually Howell – Adrian Howell.  But my friends all call my Howl, like the book.”

“Okay, Howl Like The Book.”   Ace grinned at him.  He looked startled for a moment, then grinned back. 

“You don’t sound like you’re from around here.  I can’t quite place the accent, though.”

“I was born and raised in Dublin,” Ace said truthfully.  “But I’ve spent most of my life in New York City.  I just came over on the plane a few hours ago.”  He didn’t need to know that _most of her life_ was longer than his, his parents, and quite possibly his grand-parents.

“Dublin? Really?  What brought you to the States, then?”

Cat cut in before Ace had a chance to reply.  “You guys can catch up later.  We’ve got to get something to eat, and then I’m sure Ace’ll want to have a bit of a lie down after flying all that way.” 

Howl turned to her, a startled expression on his face as though he’d forgotten she was there.  “That’s right,” he said.  “I need to talk to you.  I thought you were getting on the pla –”

“I’ll explain later,” Cat said tersely.  Ace looked between them for a moment while they weren’t looking at her.  Something was clearly afoot here, and it wasn’t any of Ace’s business.  She ducked politely out of the room, and settled into the bedroom Cat had appointed hers. 

She had enough money to find her own place that very night, if she needed to.  Something told her that hanging around with Cat was likely to be dangerous, though she couldn’t have pinpointed what it was exactly about the other woman that set her on edge.  Perhaps that encounter with the strange man in the parking lot, or Howl’s odd behavior when he’d burst into the room like a one-man herd of elephants.  And the air of danger was a complete counterpoint to the woman’s scent, which was comforting, almost homelike.  The paradox kept Ace’s mind spinning as she tried to reconcile the two.


	4. Fourth Moon

Ace slept surprisingly deeply for being in a foreign country, in a stranger’s house.  She was well-capable of taking care of herself, she knew, but she’d been expecting to sleep lightly and get no real rest.  Waking up to sunlight streaming in through the windows, she was slightly chagrined to notice that she’d slept the whole night through. 

She got up out of the bed, straightened the covers a bit, and changed her clothes, so as to look at least a little bit presentable when she went out to greet her new – friends.  She could smell both of them from other places in the apartment, and pasted a smile on her face as she walked out into the living room.

Before she could get the words “Good morning” out, both Cat and Howl turned to her accusingly. 

“I think you weren’t completely honest with us yesterday,” Cat said.

Confused, Ace ventured further into the room.  They were watching the news; on it was a picture of Ace herself, and the newscaster was talking about her. 

“Wanted for murder?” 

“Aislinn Madden, better known as Acelynn, is wanted by the American police for the murder of Annabel Smithson.  She’s believed to have left the country, and may be looking-”

“That’s not true,” Ace said, cutting the newscaster off.  Howl pressed the mute button on the remote, silencing the television altogether as he and Cat turned to listen to her.  Ace settled herself on the floor before them, and tried to sort through her thoughts.  “I told you I ran with… the wrong sort, before coming here.”  Cat nodded; Howl looked intrigued.  “I was having trouble with some of them; the leader, and his girlfriend, you might say.  He wanted me, and she was jealous.  I told them both no.

“I think it was he who killed that woman, and is trying to pin it on me for turning him down.  But I have no proof.  I swear to you both with total honesty,” she continued.  “I did not have anything to do directly with that woman’s death.” 

Cat stared hard at her, but Howl nodded.  “I believe you,” he told her.  After a moment, Cat nodded also.

“So do I.  That’s why you came with so little.  But wouldn’t it have been better to stay behind and tell them that you didn’t kill her?”

Ace laughed in spite of herself.  “Ran is a very powerful man,” she said.  “He doesn’t look like much, but he is.  If he’s trying to blame me for Smithson’s death, then nothing I said or did would have any impact at all.  Now,” she said.  “From what I gather, you’ve got some secrets of your own.  Why were you so desperately trying to leave, yourself?”

Cat looked chastened.  “I suppose it’s only fair to tell you,” she said.  “Since you’ve been so good with us.”

“You’re giving me a place to stay,” Ace interjected.  _Not that I need it, but it’s nice to have friends, at least._ “The least I can do is offer you the truth about why I’m here, as impossible as it sounds.”

Cat nodded, and then looked at Howl.  He nodded solemnly back at her.  “I, too, ran with the – uh – wrong crowd,” she said.  “But they wanted me to perform an initiation ceremony.  To become truly – well, one of them.  I couldn’t do it.” She looked at Howl again, but he was by now looking at Ace.  “They wanted me to kill someone.” Cat finished. 

From the look she was giving Howl, Ace wagered a fair amount that the one she’d been asked to kill was Howl.  And she hadn’t known the pair that long – less than a day – but it was obvious from looking at the two of them, that they were quite close.  Maybe not siblings, and not lovers, but close nonetheless.  Perhaps cousins, Ace decided.  They were like cousins, great friends, and it was absolutely no wonder that Cat had not been able to do as she’d been asked. 

But the look on Howl’s face said that he only knew that she’d been ordered to kill – not whom.  Ace found her head spinning with the two of them. 

“Let’s go get something to eat,” Cat said suddenly, in bright counterpoint to her earlier words.  I’ll just take a shower and meet you two downstairs?”

Howl climbed to his feet, and offered his hand to Ace.  “Sure,” he said, “C’mon, Ace.  Welcome to London in the morning.” He led the way out of the apartment – flat, Ace told herself – and they stopped on the sidewalk.  It wasn’t raining, but the fog was so thick that Ace couldn’t see the end of the street. 

Howl lit up a cigarette, making Ace’s nose wrinkle as she caught the scent of the smoke.  He grinned apologetically.  “I realise it’s a bad habit,” he told her.  “But I just can’t help myself.  And Cat hates it.  So I have to make sure I get my smokes in before she shows up.”

“I don’t mind it,” Ace told him.  “It’s just the smell.  My nose is too sensitive.”

A cracking twig caught Ace’s attention.  She turned her head towards it, but saw nothing.  Finally, a grey squirrel made an appearance, chattering quietly to itself.  She smiled at the passivity of the streets.  There were no blaring horns, no angry people – it was quite serene, actually.  The wind shifted once, and she lifted her head, scenting the air automatically.

There was just a hint of – something.

Then it was gone.

Ace was alarmed by it, nonetheless.  _That can’t be possible,_ she told herself.  She’d gotten well away from them. 

“Howl,” she whispered in warning.  He stopped short, looking at her. 

“What’s up?”

“Someone’s here.”

He froze, glancing around nervously.  “Who?”

They’d been drifting slowly towards the edge of the building; now a hollow chuckle rang out into the silent London morning.

“You’ve been a naughty, naughty girl, Acelynn.”

Ace’s heart dropped into her stomach with an audible _thud._  “Get out of here, Howl,” she whispered.  “Get Cat, and go away.”

“What?”

Chen Syaoran stepped out from behind the corner of the building, a manic look in his eyes.  He looked unstable, as though any second, he would go completely around the bend.  She’d never seen him looking like this before.

“What are you doing here, Ran?”

His eyelid twitched, giving him the impression of insanity.  The wild look in his eyes combined with that manic grin didn’t help in the least.  For the first time since – no, it was the second time, she realised – for the _second_ time since she’d met him, Ace found herself absolutely terrified of Ran.  Gone was the familiar, paternal alpha she’d known, and to some extent, loved.  She didn’t know the stranger before her now.

“You’re mine, Ace,” he reminded her.  “I came to bring you back home.” His lips shuddered, as though he were trying not to laugh. 

“So that you can have me arrested for a murder I didn’t commit?  So we can betray our secret to the hum-” She cut herself off, abruptly realising that Howl hadn’t gone anywhere.   He stood a few feet behind her, staring between the two wolves, his mouth agape.

“No,” crooned Ran.  “No, you’ve got it all wrong.  I’m not going to have you arrested, Ace.  You’re one of us.  We need you to be safe.  You need to be where we can protect you.”

Howl stepped forward suddenly.  “Look, mate, I don’t know who you are, or where you came from, but you can clearly see that the lady doesn’t want to come with you.  Why don’t you just bugger off, eh?”

Ace gaped at him.  “Howl, have you lost your mind?  Get away!”

“No,” he said firmly.  “I don’t know what you were involved with, but you’re with us now.”  He said it with the firmness of one who is secure in their beliefs and place in the world, secure in the knowledge that nothing would ever shake it up.  Ace had long since learned what the destruction of that belief lead to. 

“A challenger?”  Ran seemed more amused than irritated, something that Ace’s instincts were telling her wasn’t a good thing.  “So you’ve chosen him for your new alpha?  We can’t have that,” he added, seeming to talk more to himself than his audience.  “We’ll need to see if he’s worthy of his supposed status.”

“Ran, no,” Ace began, but his eyes flashed from brown to yellow, seemingly lit from within.  With Ran’s impending transformation about to blow the lid off their secret – right in front of Howl – Ace found herself at a complete loss. 

On the one hand, Howl was about to get a firsthand look at precisely what Ace had been running from.  The first ever human to witness a transformation.  And quite possibly the last, for Ace had no doubts now that Ran had killed that woman, and that he was about to kill Howl.

On the other hand, protecting their secret had been Ran’s doctrine from the time he’d been bitten, sometime near the end of the eighteenth century.  She couldn’t allow him to –

But she stopped there.  He was the Alpha.  She was simply a female member of the pack, not even an alpha in her own right.  She couldn’t _allow_ him?  What could she possibly do to _stop_ him?

But then the fur was rippling out of his body, his bones twisting, and he was transforming _right there,_ in full view of the early-morning London street, and Howl was backing up rapidly, suddenly coming to grips with the thing he had stood up to and now had no chance.

Ace didn’t think: she simply reacted.  The change came over her like a cloak, and she was dropping forward and lunging before she’d even completed the transformation.  Ran was startled away from his leap at Howl by the sight of Ace – insignificant, below his rank, and _female_ – coming for him with the intent to do harm, if not kill.  It only took him a moment to acclimatize himself, and then they were crashing into one another, barks and snarling echoing down the foggy street.  They went up on their hind legs, each going for the other’s throat, neither gaining the upper hand. 

Ace lost all awareness of Howl in the heat of the battle.  She felt a bone-deep sense of _wrongness_ in what she was doing, but the knowledge that her new friends would shortly be lunch if she didn’t do something kept her at it.  She’d left – no, she’d been _chased_ away from – Ran’s pack.  He was no longer her Alpha; she was a free wolf woman now.  Free, and fully able to defend her friends.

Keeping these thoughts in her head, she fought back viciously as Ran attacked without mercy, aiming for the delicate parts of her throat and the back of her neck, trying to force her to the ground, to show submission to him.  He out-massed her by several pounds, but she was quicker.  It was, to Ran’s obvious dismay, a relatively even match.

His weight advantage gave him an edge, however, and she figured it out quickly as he threw his bulk against her, overbalancing her.  Wolves were not built to stand on their hind legs for any length of time, not without something holding them up, and she pitched backwards.

Rather than let him get her on the ground, where he would either tear her throat out or demand subservience she was not prepared to give, she twisted as she fell, and bolted for the street.  He followed her, and the fight renewed.  But this time, Ace had an idea.  Her near-fall had put the idea into her head, and the first chance she got, she ducked down out of the fighting position and went for his back leg.

Her muzzle came away bloody, and Ran let out a howl of pure rage as he tipped over, falling heavily onto his side.  She stood for a moment, reveling in her victory, and then the fur melted away and Ran was human once more.  She eyed him warily, and then allowed her own change to ripple over her.  She crouched a few paces away, ready to flee or begin the fight again, whichever cue came from Syaoran.

“I can’t believe you did that,” were the first words out of his mouth.  The manic grin was gone momentarily, replaced by a look of sheer disbelief.  “A _female_ …”

After a moment, he recovered himself, and then the grin was back, pulling at the corners of his mouth.  “Alright,” he said.  “You win – this time.  My offer still stands.  Come back to us, and we’ll sort out the issue –”

“There is no issue,” Ace told him furiously.  “You – you _killed_ someone, Syaoran.  You – I can’t believe you.  How did you find me?”

He gazed evenly back at her, the madness retreating in the face of his defeat.  The grin remained, giving him a peculiar look.  “I tracked you through the city to that shelter, and then to your house and the airport.  I almost lost you in Canada,” he admitted.  “But then I remembered that you were trying to get out of the country one way or another, and I checked the airport.  It wasn’t hard to figure out from there. You’re _mine,_ Acelynn, and all you need to do is come back, and we’ll make everything right again.”

She snarled.  It was a remarkable effect, coming from her human throat.  “No,” she hissed.  “You broke the rules.  Our _rules,_ Syaoran.  You killed that woman.”

He sighed blissfully.  “It was wonderful,” he admitted softly.  “I’d never have enforced those rules so strictly if I had only known…”

Disgust warred with fury within her.  “You’re _insane._   And you attacked my friend – my _human_ friend – in plain sight.  I’m going to have to tell him everything – or kill him myself.”

“Oh, let me do it, Ace,” Ran begged suddenly, bloodlust lighting the topaz in his eyes again.  She hadn’t forgotten that she’d won their fight – he was still sitting on his behind in the middle of the street, leaning back casually on his hands.  

“No,” she growled.  “They’re staying alive.  _You’re_ going back to America.  You’re going to leave me alone.”

The rules of combat warred in him with the rules of Alpha status.  She was female, _and_ she was of lower rank – even had she been a male, he would have outranked her.  But she had beaten him in combat. 

Ace could see that this was something he was still trying to wrap his head around.  He hadn’t made status as Alpha by sitting on his tush, and someone as insignificant as she shouldn’t have been able to best him.  Either she’d been extremely lucky – and driven to protect her new friends, who she might actually have to kill herself in a few moments, if he looked like he was going to go off screaming into the hills because his best friend’s new flat mate turned into a wolf – or he’d been more affected by the blood-madness than any of them had previously thought. 

Syaoran climbed to his feet and dusted himself off, looking with clinical detachment at the wound on his leg.  It wasn’t serious, but it would be painful, and probably cause awkward questions later.  “Very well,” he said.  “I shall return to America, as per the Rules of Combat.  You bested me; this is your territory now.  I’ll leave.  For now.  But I’m warning you, Aislinn Madden – this isn’t over.  Not by a long shot.”

With that, he turned and loped easily down the street, despite his wound.


	5. Fifth Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter unfinished...

Ace turned back to Howl, half-expecting him to have vanished.  He remained where she’d left him, however, staring at her as if he expected her to sprout a second head – or fangs and fur.

“You know the truth,” she said despondently.  “I’ll have to –”

“Kill me?” he interjected.  “I uh… Well, I’d rather not, if it’s all the same to you, well, die you know, I rather like my life the way it is.”

Ace blinked at him.  “I wasn’t going to kill you.”

“But you said –”

“I’ll explain everything in a moment.  Let’s get back inside.  The neighbors probably saw everything anyway, but on the off chance that someone didn’t, I don’t need to go around explaining to everyone.”  She paused, and looked at him speculatively.  “You’re taking this awfully well,” she noted.

“You’re a – a werewolf,” he said, stumbling over the word only slightly.  “That’s fine.  Okay.  Yeah, I guess I am taking it well.  If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I’d never have believed it.”

“If Syaoran hadn’t changed in front of you, you still wouldn’t know,” Ace informed him.  At least he wasn’t trying to kill her yet.  Maybe he’d even hear her out before calling the authorities.


End file.
